Architect Tamira Sawatzky used Ikea components—one-inch Lagan butcher block countertops and inexpensive Ekby Lerberg brackets—when designing the bookshelves along the living room wall in the home/studio he designed for himself and his wife in Toronto.

Architect Minwook Choi’s 710-square-foot Seroro House rises from a tiny urban lot in Seoul that had long been neglected because of its challenging size.

Designed by Boston-based firm ZeroEnergy Design, this family home "consumes approximately 85% less energy than a comparable home built to the current energy code," says Stephanie T Horowitz AIA, Managing Director. "The energy savings are accomplished through a super-insulated building enclosure; airtight construction; efficient heating, cooling and ventilation; and a solar array on the roof." White stucco, shiplapped wood siding, and fiber cement panels adorn the exterior. The landscape architect was Soren deNiord.

With its stucco facade and steel-framed, arched windows, Plaster Fun House is an architectural anomaly amidst the cottages and 1960s brick residences of Torrensville in South Australia.

This compact vacation home by TACO—or, Taller de Arquitectura Contextual—is immersed in southeastern Mexico’s wild landscape. The home is designed for a pair of young adults, and the firm’s objective was to achieve a reflective and contemplative place that links the occupants with the surrounding environment. The result is an intuitive, functional, and simple living experience that offers great spatial warmth.

Folding doors create an indoor/outdoor experience.

In accordance with the brief, the firm left the landscape largely in its natural state.

Birdsall and Atticus are seated on an ipe bench designed by Anna Boeschenstein; the stucco exterior cladding was matched to Cast Iron 6202 paint by Sherwin-Williams.

The Bigelows’ house throws a nod to its midcentury modern neighbors with its subdivided plan and shallow-pitched roof. The three pavilion layout was also partly in response to tough city restrictions regarding the removal of the various beech and redwood trees on the property. However, the Butler Armsden design team was able to use the profusion of trees to their advantage, creating lines of sight to foliage from almost anywhere in the house. The exterior features locally reclaimed redwood siding that provides another connection with the redwoods on the site. The stucco is painted in custom color-matched Benjamin Moore paint.

Consider this lively bathroom that sits within a recently completed waterfront home in Bridgehampton, New York. Situated on two-and-a-half acres of land with 360-degree views of the nearby bay and ocean, it's covered with brightly colored floor-to-ceiling tiles that reflect the shades of the neighboring water. One step through the sliding glass doors and you’ll find yourself on an open terrace.

“The new house is not shy to look across at the old house, where you can see old rough stucco on one building, and then the same stucco on our new building,” Jones says.

The 1000-square-foot ADU is two levels with a footprint that allows the owners to retain plenty of outdoor space for their dogs to play. The façade “is a rain screen system, so the heat gain on the Brazilian hardwood is minimized by being physically separated by an air gap between it and the membrane behind it,” said Knight. “So, the wood heats up when sun hits it and this is not directly translated into the wall on the interior; it is instead buffered by this air gap.” The large doors and second-story skylights then work together to pull a nice breeze through the house.

The materials for the prefab were chosen to help the lodge blend into the wood. According to the architects, “the lodge features an intentionally limited palette of natural materials, including the same species of timber, western red cedar, on the external cladding and internal lining. Left unfinished, the exterior will weather naturally to a silver-gray color that is reminiscent of the local landscape, which will contrast the cozy, warmer tones of the interior."

"Uncertainty seems built into life these days. But ADUs give flexibility to the least flexible thing we have—this big, cumbersome investment of our home.,

The architect placed only a few windows on the eastern and northern facades, which intersect in a pronounced curve, to maintain privacy.

As per the owner's request, the second floor’s open landing receives ample sunlight. The space is used as a study and the home's two bedrooms are situated to the right, their doors just outside the frame.

Architect TaeByoung Yim designed a compact residence in Seoul, Korea, with designated space for studying and entertaining.

The narrow home slots easily into its urban context, while making a striking design statement.

The exterior of the tall and narrow home is sided with black-painted stucco.

The courtyard at the center of the home is a meditative space that reconnects the residents with the landscape and sky.

The compact home, clad in white acrylic stucco, features windows on the southern and western facades, opening the home to the lush hillside.

In the evening, the bright green front facade of the micro home glows, bringing to mind nature and a sense of fantasy.

The home's white stucco exterior is actually a thin layer of stucco spread over a modern EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finishing System) from Dryvit.

The compact retreat in Nayarit, Mexico, that Palma designed for an American couple comprises two stucco-clad volumes connected by a patio. The oculus above the open space frames the sky.

If their everyday mantra sounds something like "reduce, reuse, recycle," these eco-conscious gifts won’t weigh on their conscience.

The indoor/outdoor quality of the modest residence was inspired by the cinematic quality of the natural surroundings.

Pared back to the basics, Litibú allows the landscape to guide its narrative.

"Clad in economical fiber-cement siding, the ADU reaches down to the ground, while the stucco cladding of the garage reaches up, forming a semi-enclosed entry sequence," says Martin.

The Monte House spans just two floors and 452 square feet. The firm employed folding doors with operable louvers of regional cedar wood (seen here in the upper window) to allow the occupants to control their level of contact between the interior and the exterior.

Campo Loft is a blend of industrial architecture and the natural materials found in the surrounding valleys. It is a contemporary residence where contrast plays a large role—old and new, sleek and rustic, light and dark, rough and soft.

The palapa roof is a nod to traditional Mexican architecture.

The geometric wall on one side acts as a screen to protect the structure from winds and noise. It also provides privacy for the living areas oriented towards the back of the house.

The walls and parts of the roof are original to the structure. The steel-framed windows and openings are new.

Campo Loft is surrounded by lush vegetation atop a mountainous hillside.

While the proportions of the old brownstone’s facade remain congruous with others on its street, the stone has been replaced with stucco over foam. When knocked, it sounds entirely hollow.

Here's what you need to know before undergoing a building project with a contractor but no architect.